Roman water supplies. Historical artwork showing a labelled bird's-eye view of a large-scale Roman water supply system of tunnels and covered aqueducts. This engraving is from the 1521 Italian edition of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio's De Architectura, edited by Cesare Cesariano. Vitruvius was an architect in 1st century BC Rome. His writings on architecture survived through the centuries and were rediscovered in the 15th century, inspiring many architects of the Renaissance.